Chapter 4: Second Argument

It was not the forest this time, but a deserted farmyard, full of level 2 chickens, yet, apart from the barnyard, it looked like a desert. The white patches of corn were cut short and looked like sand on a flat terrain - there was no fencing in the barn, the chickens liked pecking on the corn rather than escaping. The farmer, farmer Benedict was absent for two months, which was perfect for Ownz-Runecraft and Thuw as they looked over the desolate terrain, desolate excluding the chickens. But, they weren't just to be part of the background,

"They'll be our training dummies. I don't know if you know, but chickens re-spawn when they die, so, technicaly, they never do die," said Ownz-Runecraft.

"Really? But how is that possible?" Thuw stared at the perfectly mortal chicken pecking away right by them. Ownz-Runecraft didn't explain, but instead, he crafted runes of wind and body within his hands. Energy started to swirl, then they formated and his ammo appeared.

"Wind Strike!" Runecraft converted the runes into orbs again and fused them together in a whtie ball of power then fired it at the chicken. The chicken was struck right on target, then it slowly slumped to the floor.

"You killed it!" Thuw gasped. But then, he saw the outline of the chicken coming to form on the floor, then a 3-D network of white lines spread out all over in the skeleton of the chicken, and colour started to come from the transparent grid-skeleton. The chicken was beginning to re-formate. Thuw put his hand on his mouth, then went over to the chicken and slowly reached a finger out to it. Before he could touch it, it sprang up, and started to peck at the corn again.

"No, I didn't kill it, it's still alive, and it always will be," Runecraft explained. Thuw touched the chicken, then watched it run away from him.

"It hurts them, but never kills. At re-spawning, they don't even rember the pain."

"But, if it hurts them, how can I will myself to kill it? I don't want it in pain." Thuw tried to stroke the newly spawned chicken, as it ran away.

"That's the thing. If you can't attack it, you can't fight, therefore, you won't survive long in Runescape." Runecraft never intended to sound pleasant about that, and Thuw did not change the expression on his face.

"So, it's a forcive option. Do or die?" Thuw frowned

"Afraid so, which is why you have to tell yourself, is that they never remember the pain, and, in the case of animals and monsters, they completely forget everything they've ever done when they incarnate. Now, I want you to take these runes," Runecraft handed Thuw two mind and body runes that he had spawned ,"and fire them at that tree."

"But how do I -"
"Just will them into and orb, and do like I did. Shout 'Wind Strike', and try to throw the spell, it will instead launch from your hands. Keep an eye on the tree at all times."

"Why the tree -"

"Just do it!" Runecraft shouted. Thuw brought his arms to his chest, then was about to fire the orb, when he felt hands divert his own into the direction of the chicken. It was too late to send it back, Runecraft had timed it perfectly so that the orb would hit the chicken. The chicken took some damage, and was dizzyed into a frenzy, not collapsing yet. Runecraft smiled.

"Do it again, don't aim at the tree, aim at the chicken." Thuw was about to give a 'but', but then Runecraft yelled, "NOW!" Thuw had no choice but to fire the orb, and could see that the strike he had cast had struck the chicken dead again. It was not long before it re-spawned yet again. Thuw was breathing heavily. Runecraft smiled again.

"Do it once without knowing it, and once on the spur of the moment, and you can fire deliberately as many times as you can. That was psychologically proved. Try it. I won't force you this time, but -" Runecraft could not finish the sentence, as he saw another chicken dizzying from damage, and two of Runecraft's runes nicked - with Thuw in open-cupped arms from a spell. A silence proceeded. Then, Runecraft started to slowly clap for Thuw.

"You did it. You can do it. You just mastered the first rule of fighting; the will to do so!" Runecraft applauded Thuw, and gave him a thump on the back, that sent Thuw reeling.

"Sorry!" But then they both stopped in their tracks. A longer silence came, and Thuw slowly rose to his feet. He turned his head at Runecraft, whose smile faltered slowly into nothingness. The wind blew their hair, and Thuw's black funeral clothes made him look alot more serious.

"Sorry," Thuw repeated. "Sorry for what? Is it just the thump on the back, or do you want to say sorry for something else?" Runecraft didn't say anything for a while.

"Do you want to break us up now?" Runecraft didn't have a smile on his face like he normally did.

"Do you want to say sorry?" Thuw said back to him.

"No. You ignore the fact that your father dies when I come to say sorry for you, you just say that he's a man."

"It had been a week! Do you know how long that kind of pain takes to get over?!" Thuw was annoyed.

"Thanks for telling me what was the cause of all the pain!" said Runecraft sarcastically.

"He had died, just one week ago," Thuw said angrily, breathing heavily now, "I was at no ability to tell you. I was on the verge of sobbing myself to sleep, and I felt like I was about to have a break-down, I just couldn't tell you that that was him!" A tear ran down his face.

"It's a shame how hard it is to call you Tpdw instead, The pathetic desperate warrior. So much for 'honed', you can't even control yourself for after a week." Runecraft sneered.

"HAVE YOU EVER LOST ANYONE?! YOU SOUND LIKE A ROBOT FROM HELL! WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO YOUR HEART?!" Thuw shouted, tears streaming down his face, his vocie muffled by his sadness.

"YES, I HAVE LOST SOMEONE, INFACT! I HAVE LOST EVERY MEMBER OF MY FAMILY! HOW DO YOU THINK THAT FEELS?!" Thuw was taken aback.

"Every member of your family?" said Thuw, in a small voice.

"Yes," Runecraft rasped